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grunge782

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I've got a friend who has been playing guitar for about 2 years now. Originally for about half a year he was playing with an ibanez through a digitech multifx pedal. Then he decided to start buying amps.

His first actual amp was a Marshall Valvestate. I remember how excited he was about it and he wouldn't stop talking about it too. He found a good deal on a Marshall 1960 4x12. He was satisfied with it until the valvestate started to have problems. We took it in to a shop called Pro Tech which unfortunately did a TERRIBLE job both on my amp (I had a laney at the time) and his amp. I highly recommend staying away from them. Anyways he practically gave up on the amp and it seemed like he stopped caring about guitar.

Around that time he got a new job that paid pretty **** well (for his age at the time which was 17). He told me out of the blue that he got a Randall
G3 and his uncle bought him a new 900 dollar Dean guitar for doing such a grand job at work. The GAS bug bit him and bit him hard.

He went to guitar center and tried some other amps and realized he wasn't satisfied with the randall (even for a friggin less than a year player). So the amp stampede thus began :roll:

He sold me his Randall and then got a Peavey 6505. He played that for a week but thought it wasnt right for him. He then decided to try something new, a rack setup. He purchased some smaller things like a g major, power conditioner, and an ISP decimator rack unit. He bought an engl 530 and a Carvin TS100. This was around last years June. Then about a week llater he got a Vader 2x12 so that he could run it in stereo. I remember him telling me how he thought this was the perfect setup and it couldn't get better. Little did I know how quick his mind could change. He wasn't satisfied of course with how heavy it got so he then decided to sell his Engl, Carvin, Vader and Marshall for a new setup. He bought a Mills 4x12 and an Engl Fireball. All the time this was happening his pay was going up as well because of how well he was doing at work.

Bad fortune became the key to new amps in his life. He was trying to bias his amp and while carrying it down the stairs he slipped. The amp rolled down all 12 stairs like a soccer ball. He thought to himself " I really like the sound of the Fireball, but I wonder what else I can try?"

So he first tried an EVH III. He loved it but because of it being made in Mexico it broke on him. Return. Then he decided to try some other Engls. He first got the Powerball. He didn't like the sound of it. Then he tried a Riche Blackmore. Didn't like the sound of that either. So after 3 failures he went back to the Engl Fireball. He was happy going back to this setup for a while, meantime scoring a nice 7 string schecter with a BKP. Then the GAS struck him again. This was about 4 or 5 months ago.

Recently (this July) he purchased a VHT Sig X and thought there was something buzzy about the midrange. It was of course because of the V30's he was using with it but he didn't want to spend money on a Fatbottom (even though he's spent so much on other things). Return. Then he tried out a Mesa Roadster for a day. Didn't like that. Ok well maybe he should try Engls again. He then bought an Engl Savage and realized he didn't need the Fireball anymore. However he broke one of his kt88 tubes on the Savage while biasing :lol:...again. So he decided to return the amp and try the Engl Invader. Sweetness, it was perfect... or so he said.

Last night he im'd me and after recently purchasing a 750 dollar LTD he asked me "What if i returned the LTD and the Invader? Then I could get a Diezel Herbert?" :cry: not again.

I just thought to myself. Only 2 years of playing, the guy's ALRIGHT at guitar but he could practically get a car with this amount money. I think there is a time frame for when you should jump amps. For his age and time frame I think he's set a world record for going through more high end Amps than anyone.

So heres the list for just under 2 years of playing guitar.

1. Marshall Valvestate
2. Randall RH150 G3
3. Peavey 6505
4. Engl 530/Carvin TS100
5. Engl Fireball
6. EVH 5150 III
7. Engl Powerball
8. Engl Blackmore
9. Engl Fireball (new one)
10. VHT Sig X
11. Mesa Boogie Roadster (Recto)
12. Engl Savage
13. Engl Invader
14. Diezel Herbert?

You guys be the jury on this. Does he have the worst GAS ever? l'm just afriad whats going to happen in another year.
 
I think its funny, I wish I could afford to do that!!!! Live at home with the parents, no bills, no mortgage payment, very little to no responsibilities, falling backwards into money, and tons of gear, does it get any better than that?

Money is meant for one thing, spending. I say give him a heads up if hes racking up huge debt or if its becoming a problem, but in the meantime say nothing and be his friend. who knows, he might buy you something, lol!!! :lol:

As for the G.A.S. Syndrome, all of us have that, but some more than others.
 
I think there is some evidence here that proves more tone comes from your fingers than what people realize. Any one of those amps would satisfy a lot of players. Tweaking an amp can be a science in of itself, too.

If your friend is serious enough to still be playing in another 2-3 years, he'll probably realize that what he's done was kinda dumb, because he blew off the plethora of tones at his disposal, regardless if he only owned 1 or 2 at a time. I can only dream of owning any of those amps right now and I am a whole lot older than he...LOL.

Good luck to the both of you.
 
SacredGroove said:
I think there is some evidence here that proves more tone comes from your fingers than what people realize. Any one of those amps would satisfy a lot of players. Tweaking an amp can be a science in of itself, too.

If your friend is serious enough to still be playing in another 2-3 years, he'll probably realize that what he's done was kinda dumb, because he blew off the plethora of tones at his disposal, regardless if he only owned 1 or 2 at a time. I can only dream of owning any of those amps right now and I am a whole lot older than he...LOL.

Good luck to the both of you.

I wish I could say that's true, but when he does get an amp he will tweak and tweak and tweak. He can recognize tone very specifically. It's just that he has SUCH a specific tone in his head that he will go through amps very quickly and will not give different tones a chance. Not only that but I believe with more PLAYING that he will want different tones.
 
This was one of the reasons I went with the Randall MTS.... it was damage control on the budget. Now if I want a different sound I just can spend $300 and pick up one of the outstanding modules from Pete, Anthony, Jaded, or whoever is doing them.

I'd gone through:

the usual Peavey starter stuff
Fender HR Deville
Marshall Vintage Modern flipped for the....
Marshall JVM 410 nice amp when it worked but it didn't work most of the time so I got....
Peavey 6505+ (I still have this as my backup)
and got a warranty exchange on the JVM POS for the MTS.

My Fender amp is for sale, but I'm keeping it until the market improves. This guy I know wants it, offered me $400 for it last year (the amp used to be his) now has come down to $250 + dinner and I'm gonna put it on Craigslist in about a year. If I need money $250 ain't gonna help.

I really wish that JVM was more reliable, but I've got more versatile now.

Your friend either has a case of extreme GAS or has bipolar disorder.

If the specific tone in his head is something he heard on a recording he will NEVER find it in a live amp. Repeat NEVER find it in a live amp. He could buy a Bogner Ecstacy 20th Ann, a Diezel, even a F'n Dumble (original for about $75K) and not be satisfied.

He will need about $100,000 in professional studio gear to get that sound. He would be better off with the Fractal AXE FX and a Fryette (the original VHT) power amp.

And MIM doesn't mean something is poorly made. General Motors made cars here in the USA and they still sucked.
 
It's in your fingers. When I try a guitar the LAST thing I do is plug it in.
No amp, stomp box, EQ, Pull-Tec, etc. is going to make a bad or mediocre
player good. What Julia said about trying to recreate a sound heard on recording is true x 100.
On thing an amp can do is really rattle your cage if it's not what your used to. My RM50 went nuts in the middle of a rehearsal (I fixed it later)
and I had to play through a Marshall 1/2 stack. I couldn't stand the tone and kept asking my vocalist and best friend Jimi if it sounded O.K. He said
'Yeah, it's not your tone but your playing great.'
I could tell it wasn't right, but others didn't pick up on it.
 
Any bets as to how long he takes before he flips this one?

You could have some fun with this dude.... How about planting the seed in his head that he really really should have the Bogner Ecstacy 20 Ann. but it really needs the Bogner cabinet. That he would sound so much better with that..... then when he gets ready to flip that one, talk him into a Dumble, but not a clone, has to be an original.
 
Julia said:
Any bets as to how long he takes before he flips this one?

You could have some fun with this dude.... How about planting the seed in his head that he really really should have the Bogner Ecstacy 20 Ann. but it really needs the Bogner cabinet. That he would sound so much better with that..... then when he gets ready to flip that one, talk him into a Dumble, but not a clone, has to be an original.

:lol: I've tried but he's pretty hard headed. I did get him once when I brought over my Titan amp. It made him buy a new Engl.
 
I did the same thing your friend done. Always looking at amps/buying them and telling my band mates "THIS IS THE ONE!!"
Well.....after over a dozen amps and tone chasing it actually got sickening on how I strayed SO FAR away from playing and more on trying to find a tone that was in my head that probably didnt exist. All the amps I owned were all great in their way and whats funny is when we did a set my drummer and Bass player really didnt notice if it had "too much mids" or "muddy" or too shrilly.....but I was literally driving them crazy (and myself) with the amp obsession. Thats why the MTS line is really a kick *** deal once you get into all the flavors available and the modding......etc.
SO I know what your buddy is going thru and it really does suck. Get to see some kick *** gear..but there is no perfect amp. MTS is pretty close though! :wink:

Just my 2 cents on this.

:D
 
Mailman1971 said:
I did the same thing your friend done. Always looking at amps/buying them and telling my band mates "THIS IS THE ONE!!"
Well.....after over a dozen amps and tone chasing it actually got sickening on how I strayed SO FAR away from playing and more on trying to find a tone that was in my head that probably didnt exist. All the amps I owned were all great in their way and whats funny is when we did a set my drummer and Bass player really didnt notice if it had "too much mids" or "muddy" or too shrilly.....but I was literally driving them crazy (and myself) with the amp obsession. Thats why the MTS line is really a kick *** deal once you get into all the flavors available and the modding......etc.
SO I know what your buddy is going thru and it really does suck. Get to see some kick *** gear..but there is no perfect amp. MTS is pretty close though! :wink:

Just my 2 cents on this.

:D

Haha well I'm wondering though, did you go through all of those amps within the time frame of a little over a year? To me there needs to be a decent amount of time spent on a line 6, squier or a crate before you should make the jump to good amps.

Agreed, MTS is a good cure for GAS especially for your wallet! :)
 
Yeah he still needs to get his feet wet! haha
I did that after playing for over 20 years.....
not that it makes it any "better" :wink:
 
The real question is does he offer you all this great stuff at bargain prices when he's ready to move onto his next holy grail?
 
Now the smart thing to do would be to order these from MF or Sweetwater so he can take advantage of the 45 day swap.

Hey, tell you what. Tell him I have "da bomb" right here. He's been missing out on this all along. It's my custom biased Fender HR Deville 212! It's loud as hell and does great cleans. I'll sell it to him....
 
Julia said:
Now the smart thing to do would be to order these from MF or Sweetwater so he can take advantage of the 45 day swap.

Hey, tell you what. Tell him I have "da bomb" right here. He's been missing out on this all along. It's my custom biased Fender HR Deville 212! It's loud as hell and does great cleans. I'll sell it to him....

Oh trust me, he abuses those companies to no end. He could have snagged the Invader for 2000.... but having the Herbert NOW was more important.

I'm sorry but he's a brootz only guy so the mention of Fender makes him go hide in the dark in his basement. Another one of those pesky metalheads :roll:
 
Mailman1971 said:
I did the same thing your friend done. Always looking at amps/buying them and telling my band mates "THIS IS THE ONE!!"
Well.....after over a dozen amps and tone chasing it actually got sickening on how I strayed SO FAR away from playing and more on trying to find a tone that was in my head that probably didnt exist. All the amps I owned were all great in their way and whats funny is when we did a set my drummer and Bass player really didnt notice if it had "too much mids" or "muddy" or too shrilly.....but I was literally driving them crazy (and myself) with the amp obsession. Thats why the MTS line is really a kick *** deal once you get into all the flavors available and the modding......etc.
SO I know what your buddy is going thru and it really does suck. Get to see some kick *** gear..but there is no perfect amp. MTS is pretty close though! :wink:

Just my 2 cents on this.

:D

I totally agree with Danny on this. The GAS bug strikes in mysterious ways, and it has affected ALL of us at some point or the other. You wont see someone who buys something for the first time and goes "oh yeah, this is perfect...I dont need to buy anything after this". There's always a better guitar, amp, car, etc. I'm not as big a gear junkie as your pal but I understand where he's coming from. He'll grow out of it, dont worry :)
 
grunge782 said:
Julia said:
Now the smart thing to do would be to order these from MF or Sweetwater so he can take advantage of the 45 day swap.

Hey, tell you what. Tell him I have "da bomb" right here. He's been missing out on this all along. It's my custom biased Fender HR Deville 212! It's loud as hell and does great cleans. I'll sell it to him....

Oh trust me, he abuses those companies to no end. He could have snagged the Invader for 2000.... but having the Herbert NOW was more important.

I'm sorry but he's a brootz only guy so the mention of Fender makes him go hide in the dark in his basement. Another one of those pesky metalheads :roll:

But tell him he can hook up a Boss Metal Zone and get teh br00tz. :lol: And it's got a Drive channel AND a MORE DRIVE, channel. And it goes to 12.
 
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